Since the beginnings of darkest silence the people of a mythical island have spent their days tying the ancient knot that binds them to their ancestors. To tie this knot they must dig a hole; to dig a hole they first must have fire; and to make a fire that is hot enough for hole digging, this knot that they have been tying for countless generations must finally be tied. From silence to mud to rope to knot to wood to words to fire, the Old People will work to tie this knot under the cool shade of the island's original knotmaking tree.

Subversive in voice and style, without mainstays of conventional fiction, 'The Old People' portrays the sights and sounds of a world that has been lost. Using primary words as a metaphor for the island's seemingly limited yet infinitely diverse and self-sustaining resources, the book conveys the life rhythms of the Old People and their world: the unique cadence that emerges from the ancient juxtaposition of silence, then language, then silence once again.